This invention relates to the field of printing devices and more particularly to identification band imprinters of a type commonly used in hospitals.
Printing devices are well known in the art and are widely used for imprinting credit card receipts, business forms and invoice slips. These devices typically have a platen upon which reusable plastic cards with raised characters providing the information to be imprinted may be placed. A cover with a roller carriage is connected to the platen such that the cover may be lowered and the roller may be passed over a form or slip positioned above (or below) the card to impress information from the card onto the form or slip. Typically, the business form or slip is held in place by locating the edges or corners of the form by means of guides as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,083,302 and 3,654,858. Other devices are known in the art which use spring clamps for forceably engaging and holding a business form or slip, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,818,829 and 3,704,668.
The present invention is particularly aimed at providing a retaining element for use in imprinting patient identification bands of a type widely used in hospitals. When a patient is admitted to a hospital, the patient's name and other personal data are typically entered on a plastic identification card (usually blue or green) having raised or embossed characters. This information is then imprinted onto a patient identification band (and onto a number of other hospital records) by using a roller-equipped imprinter of the general type described above. However, it is an all-too-common experience for such a band to slip when the cover is lowered and the roller is passed over the band, causing the impression to be marred or misplaced on the transfer surface of the band. Patient safety demands that the imprinted information be clearly legible, so bands with marred or misplaced information are commonly discarded and the process is repeated until satisfactory results are obtained. Such repetition obviously wastes material and consumes valuable time and effort of hospital personnel.
Accordingly, an important aspect of this invention lies in providing simple and inexpensive retaining elements for use with common roller-equipped imprinters for positioning and immobilizing patient identification bands for imprinting. Another objective of the present invention is to provide a simple means for positioning the identification band on an imprinter so as to prevent marred or misplaced information on the bands. A further objective of the invention is to eliminate wastage which results from discarding bands which have marred or misplaced information.
The present invention addresses the above problems and achieves the above objectives by providing a pair of retaining elements, each of which comprises a base having a planar bottom surface and an upper surface generally parallel with the bottom surface and including a band support portion, an adhesive layer along the bottom surface for securing the retaining elements to the platen, and a cantilevered spring arm mounted on the base and extending over the band support portion of the base. For use, the elements are affixed to the platen of the imprinter on opposite sides of the card-supporting and imprinting zone. A patient identification band is then slipped between the undersides of the spring arms and the band support portions of the bases of both elements. The underside of each spring arm is ideally provided with a longitudinal rib that has a lowest portion that is preferably coplanar with the support portions of the bases when the arm is in an unflexed state. When the band is inserted under the spring arm, the rib engages the band causing slight downward deformation of the band and upward flexing of the spring arm to exert a clamping force for holding the band in place. The clamping force could also be increased when the cover of the imprinter is closed to engage and press down on the upper contact surface of each spring arm that normally projects above the band support portions of the bases.
The retaining elements function as band positioning means as well as stabilizing or immobilizing means. Most advantageously, one of the elements is secured to the platen of the imprinter so that the clasp of an identification band engages a side edge of that element and secures the band against longitudinal movement in the direction of roller travel during an imprinting operation. A pair of such retaining elements may be easily and quickly mounted in proper locations on the platen of an imprinter simply by placing an identification band on the platen with its transfer surface precisely located over the imprinting zone and then positioning the retaining elements on opposite sides of that zone with portions of the band fully received beneath the spring arms and with one of the elements in lateral engagement with the clasp at one end of the band. Pressure-sensitive adhesive coatings on the undersides of the retaining elements, exposed by removing protective release sheets, securely fix the two elements in their selected positions on the platen.
The retaining elements of the present invention are inexpensive, easy to manufacture, and provide a secure means for locating and immobilizing an identification band on the platen of an imprinter for the transfer of information from an imprinting card to the transfer surface of the identification band.
Other features, advantages, and objects of the invention will become apparent from the specification and drawings.